Born to Kill, Not to Love
by Nacho the Greato
Summary: Is Clove really the vicious and unforgiving tribute she appears to be, or is she just misunderstood? This is the Hunger Games from Clove's perspective. R&R please, I love constructive criticism. And if you have any better ideas on the title, that would be great. I promise it's a lot better than the image I chose for it :
1. Together Forever

Please read and review. I love constructive criticism. I'm always looking to improve. Seriously, if you read this, please review. I don't even care if you hate it, I'd just like to hear your opinion. Please.

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**Clove's POV**

_How did I end up here?_ I thought as I sat on the rooftop of the training center, playing with my ring. It was the night before the Games. Even Careers get nervous, and I was a nervous wreck. I felt like crying. I wanted to curl up into a ball and cry. I wanted to escape this horrible world that I was living in and enter some other, peaceful world.

"Clove," he said, walking up from behind me.

"Hey Cato," I replied.

"Are you nervous?" he asked, sitting down next to me.

"Yeah," I replied.

After a long moment of silence he asked, "Why did you volunteer?"

Careers were supposed to wait until they were eighteen to volunteer; I was sixteen. That was two years younger than I was supposed to be. That was why everyone was surprised when I shouted those two famous words. That was why this was the first time Cato has talked to me since the Reaping. That was why I hated myself.

"I don't know," I said, a tear dribbling down my cheek.

He hugged me, but that just made it worse. After what seemed like a lifetime he pulled away from me. As he looked at me his eyes started to tear up.

"I was supposed to win," he said as he wiped away his tears.

"You can still win," I told him.

"Not with you in the Games. I can't win when you're dead. If you're dead, I lose," he said.

"Cato-," he stopped me with a kiss.

We had kissed before, but this was nothing like that. This was filled with pain, loss, and regret. His strong arms wrapped around me and for once in my life I felt safe. With Cato's arms wrapped around me, I finally felt safe. I treasured this kiss, fully aware that it could be our last. I don't know how long had gone by before he finally pulled away. I didn't care.

"Cato…" I couldn't think of what to say.

"What?" he asked me.

"We were supposed to be together… forever," I said, twisting my ring around my finger. My diamond ring.


	2. Reality is Finally Better

I know, I do very short chapters. Once I am done I will lengthen them.

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He didn't respond. He just looked at me with his milky brown eyes.

"That could have been us you know—the star crossed lovers from District 2," he said, reading my mind.

"It should've been us," I confirmed.

"I guess they'll figure out in the arena, won't they?" He said, gesturing towards our rings.

"I guess they will," I told him.

He kissed me again. It was completely unexpected. The soft, gentle kiss from before was gone. It was a vicious, hungry kiss. It was a Cato kiss. His hand cradled my head.

I pulled back just for a second to say, "I wish life were always like this. I wish we could stay here forever."

"You always want what you can't have," he tells me. I look at him with confusion. "You want to stay here, but we must go into the Games tomorrow. You want me, but we must fight to the death tomorrow," he says.

"Maybe that's why I want it. Because I can't have it. Isn't there something adventurous about forbidden love?" I ask him.

And he started again. He cradled my head in one of his hands while the other rested on the small of my back. We were past gentle kisses. Those were for 12's star crossed lovers. Here in 2, our kisses are vicious, just like our tributes.

It did start soft, but then it turned hungry. It was he was living off of this kiss. It was as if my kisses were what he lived for. Back in District 2, they were. Just being "Cato" was never enough for his parents. They wanted him to be better and stronger than the other Careers. That was how we met—training. We were partners.

I remember our first kiss. I was 13 and he was 15. We were the best of friends, but it was turning into something more or at least, I hoped. It was on the way home from dinner. He was walking me to my house when he, just out of the blue, kissed me. I was surprised by this. I was two years younger than him and he was one of the most popular and strongest boys in our area of 2. It was every girls dream to kiss the popular and beautiful Cato, but it was my reality. They say that you know you're in love when you can't sleep because your reality is finally better than your dreams. If this is true then I was and still am in love with Cato.


	3. Enough for Me

This one is a tad bit longer than the others. I hope you like it. I'll try to write more soon!

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"We've got to get some sleep," I said to him, finally pulling away.

"Come on then," he said, leaping up.

Cato pulled me towards the elevator. It was a very silent ride down to the second floor. When we got down there, Cato followed me towards my room. When we got there, he grabbed my hand and pulled me inside.

"Cato-," I never got the chance to finish my sentence because he kissed me.

"You talk too much," he told me.

"You don't talk enough," I countered.

He kissed me again. It was another hungry kiss. Hungry and vicious, just like Cato. Hungry and vicious, just the way I liked it. He pushed me towards the bed, his arms, strong around my midsection. I moved my hand up to his head, feeling the softness of his hair. That moment was probably the best in my life. Knowing that someone loved me just the way I was. Knowing that just being "me" was enough for someone.

Cato pushed me into the bed, still kissing me. You wouldn't imagine what it's like, when you can just be yourself. Knowing that being "you" is enough for someone… it's the best feeling in the world. For a moment, just a moment, I forgot about District 2. I forgot about the Hunger Games. It was like the entire world was just Cato and me.

Cato's hands moved up my shirt.

"No," I said firmly.

"Why? This would be our only chance," he told me.

"Don't you think I know that?" I asked him.

He sighed, settling himself next to me.

His arms were firmly around my midsection, cradling me. Cato was the only person that knew me for who I really was and accepted me.

After a long time, I asked, "So this is how you've always felt?"

"What?" he responded.

"Like you're never going to be anyone," I clarified.

Cato didn't say anything.

"I feel like I have something to prove to everyone in District 2. They all think I'm just some small girl that has a talent with knives," I told him.

"But you're not," he protested. "You're much more than that. You could win the Games."

"I couldn't. That means you would be dead. Then I couldn't win. I would kill myself before I let that happen," I told him.

"Don't say that," he said.

"I don't want to become a mindless slave of the Capitol. I want to stay me, even if it's not enough for everyone," I continued.

"It's enough for me," Cato told me.


	4. Motivation

Okay, I wrote this in, like, 5 minutes. I will fix it later. I hope you like it! Please tell me if there's anything you do or don't like about it. Like I said, I love constructive criticism.

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I looked into his eyes, searching for any sign of falsity, but there was none. He was telling the truth. I wanted to respond to him. I wanted to say something nice back, but all that came out was, "In the morning, we might die."

He chuckled as if this were funny. It wasn't. It was the cold, hard truth.

"Cato, this isn't a joke," I told him.

"I wasn't laughing because it was funny, I was laughing because of the whole idea of it," he replied.

I looked at him, confused. "What do you mean?" I asked.

"Telling two people that love each other that they have to fight to the death in an arena. That's what I'm talking about. It's not just us, either. The tributes from 12 are obviously playing it, and you've seen the girl from 5 flirt with the boy from 11. It's not just us in love, Clove," he said.

I gazed into his milky brown eyes. He was right. It _wasn't _just us. The Capitol saw the tributes from 12, but there's much more that they're not seeing. _Is it like this every Hunger Games? _I wondered. Maybe it's the bond you form with someone who's with you in a similar situation, like the girl from 5 and the boy from 11. Maybe it's a bond you formed much earlier, like Cato and me. Maybe it's something that's been welling up for a long time and now is the time to let it out, like the tributes from 12.

The whole concept is insane. Forcing kids to fight to the death is bad enough, but forcing kids who are in love to fight their loved one to the death is even worse. What if it comes down to Cato and me? What would we do? Neither of us would kill each other and if we killed ourselves it would be just as bad as killing the other.

"It's _not_ just us, you're right. But maybe that's our motivation. Snow thinks it's hope, but maybe it's love. Our goal isn't to keep ourselves alive, it's to keep our loved ones alive," I thought aloud.

Cato just nodded as if consumed in deep thought.

"I just want you to know that as long as you're alive, I will be too. No matter how close to death I am I will always feel as alive as I would if I were fine as long as you're by my side. As long as you're dead, I will be too. If you're dead, for the rest of my short life I will feel as dead as you are," he told me.


End file.
